Quizlet for studying and learning

Quizlet is an online site for learning vocabulary. Here's a bit from the Quizlet "About" page.

What is Quizlet exactly? We start with flash cards. Students can make their own, or choose from millions of flash cards sets created by others. But that's just the beginning - once you've got flashcards, you can use several study modes including multiple choice tests and study games. You can add images and listen to audio, and even study on the go with one of dozens of Quizlet-compatible mobile apps.
Students are the core of Quizlet. High school and college students, language learners, grad students, home school students, anyone studying anything. Quizlet makes it easy to create and share study materials, to study with a few friends or an entire class. And Quizlet is good for studying almost any subject, from languages and vocabulary to history to science and the arts.




Below is an example of a state capitols review game at Quizlet. Give it a try.

Choose a Study ModeScatterLearnFlashcards

Study these flash cards | Study states flash cards

Check out 'The Digital Textbook'

I created The Digital Textbook as an alternative to paper texts which are static, generally only black-and-white, and often dated. In a world of so many types of text, some of which focus on words while others incorporate a range of media, it seems negligent to offer only the dry pages of an old textbook or novel. The Digital TextbookDigital Textbook is intended to be a dynamic, evolving site. If you find what I have included here does not meet your instructional needs, by all means steal the idea of such a site and create your own version that best meets your students' needs.  (from Jim Burke)

To view the resources at The Digital Textbook, click the above hyperlinked text.

Remembering America at the Library of Congress

American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning. (from the "About" page at the Library of Congress American Memory site)

To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text.

Publication information for young writers

New Pages is a hub for nearly all things literary. The site includes information about literary magazines, new books, writing contests, etc. And it includes a section devoted to young writers. Below is some information about the resources for young writers.

Where young writers can find literary magazines to read, places to publish their writing, and legitimate contests. A select list of children's, teen, and young adult publications in print and online that have open submissions with guidelines, an editorial selection process, and a regular print cycle. Some publish only young writers, some publish all ages for young readers. For more specific submission guidelines, visit the publication's website.

To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text, which is quoted from the New Pages website.

UND Writers Conference 2012 line-up

The line-up for the 2012 annual UND Writers Conference is up at the conference website. Authors scheduled thus far are: Jane Smiley, Lee Ann Roripaugh, Pam Houston, Brenda Miller, Hal Herog, Mark Doty and Grand Forks' own Aaron Poochigian. Follow the above hyperlinked text to the website and you'll be able to read authors bios and more.

The theme for the 2012 conference is "Humanimal." The conference runs from March 27-31, 2012 at UND.

Hey Scrabble players...

Word recognition behavior can be fine-tuned by experience and practice, according to a new study by Ian Hargreaves and colleagues from the University of Calgary in Canada. Their work shows, for the first time, that it is possible to develop visual word recognition ability in adulthood, beyond what researchers thought was achievable. Competitive Scrabble players provide the proof. The study is published online in Springer’s journal Memory & Cognition. (from ScienceBlog)

New report says formative assessment helps students write better

"Student writing skills can be improved in the classroom by having teachers provide students regular feedback, track their progress, and encourage them to evaluate their own skills, finds a new report from the Carnegie Corporation of New York released today. (September 16, 2011)
'Informing Writing: The Benefits of Formative Assessment' examines whether formative assessment can improve students' writing skills and what techniques are best to help them improve. The research was published by the Alliance for Excellent Education, an advocacy group based in Washington that supports college readiness for high school students."

The above comes from Nora Fleming at Education Week. To read more, click here.

The Writing to Read report is on Slideshare

Writing to read report

View more documents from Lesley Roessing

Teachers' Domain resources to check out

Teachers' Domain is a free digital media service for educational use from public broadcasting and its partners. You’ll find thousands of media resources, support materials, and tools for classroom lessons, individualized learning programs, and teacher professional learning communities. (from the Teachers' Domain website)

You can find resources for standards by content area as well as organization. The Common Core Standards, for example, are included.

Don't forget the sidebar of this blog

The sidebar of this blog not includes profile information, upcoming events---when applicable---etc. It also includes links to blogs and other resources.

The newest addition is the plain box which lets you tap into the Snappy Words Free Online Visual Dictionary.  (It's the eighth item down in the sidebar). Simply type in an appropriate word and hit search.

Adding this gadget is easy. Here's a link to the code, in case, you're interested in adding this feature to your blog or website.

The importance of writing across the curriculum

Why should students engage in writing activities in every class? An important answer to that question is that student writing, in any classroom, is a window into how students think about the concepts they are learning. Writing assignments make terrific formative assessments. Something as simple as an exit pass, a few sentences written on index cards summarizing the day's lesson, allows teachers to gauge the level of concept mastery students have attained. Written products, whether simple or complex, reveal the extent of a learner's understanding and are a window through which the writer's thinking processes can be viewed. For this reason alone, writing activities are essential learning experiences and should be a part of every teacher's routine practice.(from the Teachers At Work column at Visual Thesaurus)

To learn more, click the hyperlinked text above.

Every species gets a nod

"The Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) began in 2007 with the bold idea to provide 'a webpage for every species.' Now, EOL brings together trusted information from resources across the world such as museums, learned societies, expert scientists, and others into one massive database and a single, easy-to-use online portal at EOL.org .
EOL is expanding to become a global community of collaborators and contributors serving the general public, enthusiastic amateurs, educators, students, and even professional scientists from around the world. Learn about The People of EOL and EOL Governance."

The above comes from the EOL website, which is full of text and other media, a stunning collection of resources for teachers. To learn more, click here.

Vocabulary and more

Regardless of your education level or age, Vocabulary.com will help you to master the words that are essential to academic and business success.

Check out Vocabulary.com by clicking the hyperlinked text above. At the Vocabulary.com website, you can find what appears to be quite the dictionary. Here's a bit about it.

Unlike most online dictionaries, we want you to find your word’s meaning quickly. We don’t care how many ads you see or how many pages you view. In fact, most of the time you’ll find the word you are looking for after typing only one or two letters.

Sir Ken Robinson on re-thinking education

One view on teaching about the tenth anniversary of 9/11

I have snapshots in my mind of a 16-year-old, curly haired girl doodling in her notebook, desperately trying to avoid being called on in Spanish class.  Her biology teacher bursts through the door, interrupting her stupor with the words “a plane just crashed into one of the Twin Towers.” Today, that girl is a 26-year-old teacher standing in front of a room full of students who do not have such snapshots. None of them were beyond the age of 3 when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred. In a few more years, I will face students who will only know 9/11 as a historical event that happened before they were born.

These past and present snapshots remind me it is essential that middle school educators take into account that while our mental snapshots of 9/11 are our own, for our students these snapshots have been handed down to them in an album created by others. Yet despite the fact that these snapshots were not taken by our students, we must realize they are affecting the conclusions students draw about 9/11. We must encourage our students to develop multiple perspectives about 9/11 and draw their own conclusions. (Teaching Tolerance blogger Jacqueline Yahn on the tenth anniversary of 9/11)

To read more, click the second paragraph of hyperlinked text above.

Respect for graphic novels growing

In the past four years, we've seen an increasing number of graphic novels reviewed alongside traditional texts in our most trusted professional publications, and they currently represent the fastest growing section of most libraries and bookstores. More teachers than ever before are taking advantage of them, and our national and state literacy organizations offer more presentations each year devoted to integrating the medium into our instruction. It seems graphic novels are here to stay - and if they haven't yet, it's only a matter of time before they make their way into your classrooms and libraries. (Donalyn Miller on graphic novels at Education Week)

To read more, click the hyperlinked text above.

Usage and more

Daily Writing Tips provides reminders about usage as well as resources to get writing. Here's a bit from today.


Into and onto are prepositions, words that describe relative position. They are part of prepositional phrases, such as “She settled herself into her seat” or “He climbed onto the roof.” These words are forward looking, in that, as their grammatical name implies, they are positioned before the object.
“In to” and “on to,” on the other hand, are combinations of an adverb (in or on) and the preposition to. Unlike the single-word forms, they look both backward (in and on refer to a preceding verb) and forward (to pertains to the following object).

To read more, click the above hyperlinked text. 

Words can work

When language-mutilator Yogi Berra said that something was “like ‘deja vu’ all over again,” everybody laughed. Lately I get the feeling that some people who say it don’t know it’s a joke.
Yogi’s “belts and suspenders” approach to words seems to be on the increase. We’ve all seen ads that offer “a free gift.” Sometimes it’s “an absolutely free gift.” It’s as if people don’t trust a word to mean what it means. (from Daily Writing Tips)

To read more, click the above hyperlinked text.

What's at Wolfram Alpha

Yes, Wolfram Alpha fits the following description:

Free online access to the Wolfram|Alpha computational knowledge engine: answer questions; do math; instantly get facts, calculators, unit conversions, and real-time quantitative data and statistics; create plots and visualizations; and access vast scientific, technical, chemical, medical, health, business, financial, weather, geographic, dictionary, calendar, reference, and general knowledge—and much more

But what is that "much more"? That much more covers knowledge on a lot of topics. To explore that part of Wolfram Alpha, click here.

PARCC content frameworks released

The Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is pleased to provide you with a draft of the PARCC Model Content Frameworks in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. These frameworks have been developed through a collaborative state-led process between state experts and members of the Common Core State Standards writing teams. The model content frameworks serve several purposes: They help identify the big ideas in the Common Core State Standards for each grade level; help determine the focus for the various PARCC assessment components; and will support the development of the PARCC assessment blueprints.(from the PARCC website)

To learn more, click the above hyperlinked text.